Analyst: Sony will need to sell a ton of Vita to make a profit

Video game industry analyst Jack Plunkett has noted today that Sony will need to sell a ton of PlayStation Vita to make a profit on the handheld.

The handheld went on sale in the U.S. and Europe today, after being available in Japan since last year.

Plunkett seemed very enthralled by the console, but still sees Sony needing a monster hit: "It's a pure game machine aimed at absolutely avid gamers who want to spend some real money on it. And that's going to be interesting to see what happens.

It's potentially a real redeemer for the company and based on everything I've seen they have a really good chance with it."

In order for the company to turn a profit, Plunkett estimates Sony will need to sell 50 million units of the Vita and over 500 million games by 2017.

The PlayStation Vita is available now for $250 (Wi-Fi version) or $299 (AT&T 3G + Wi-Fi version).

Originally posted by Steel-Ice: The Vita is dead in the water in Japan and will be the same in the US. If you don't buy it Sony will be forced to drop the price like Nintendo did with the Nintendo 3DS.

sold over half a million in 3 weeks in Japan really good imo, all the games they released over there were for western gamers really.

when Monster Hunter comes out in Japan it will fly of the shelves.

think you will be waiting a long time for your price drop the shop I got mine from today was packed with people buying it.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 22 Feb 2012 @ 22:16

Originally posted by Steel-Ice: The Vita is dead in the water in Japan and will be the same in the US. If you don't buy it Sony will be forced to drop the price like Nintendo did with the Nintendo 3DS.

sold over half a million in 3 weeks in Japan really good imo.

think you will be waiting a long time for your price drop the shop I got mine from today was packed with people buying it.

The Vita is dead in Japan it has been for quite sometime. Last week was a all time low in sales. A quick google search will show you that as soon as you take those Sony shades off.

Originally posted by Steel-Ice: The Vita is dead in the water in Japan and will be the same in the US. If you don't buy it Sony will be forced to drop the price like Nintendo did with the Nintendo 3DS.

sold over half a million in 3 weeks in Japan really good imo.

think you will be waiting a long time for your price drop the shop I got mine from today was packed with people buying it.

The Vita is dead in Japan it has been for quite sometime. Last week was a all time low in sales. A quick google search will show you that as soon as you take those Sony shades off.

& it is obvious why there are no big Japanese games why don't you take the cheap glasses of hoping things fail so you benefit.

Originally posted by Steel-Ice: My job as a consumer is to get the best value for my buck. I'm looking at the PS3 sitting in 3rd place with Microsoft outselling it week after week.

not in the world mate it is out sold in Europe week after week by the PS3 & in Japan the PS2 out sells the 360. plus how many of the numbers are from all the units MS had to replace. give it 8 months PS3 will probably overtake it after launching a year later than the 360.

if you understood value you would no the Vita is a great price for what you get.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 22 Feb 2012 @ 22:32

not in the world mate it is out sold in Europe week after week by the PS3 & in Japan the PS2 out sells the 360. plus how many of the numbers are from all the units MS had to replace. give it 8 months PS3 will probably overtake it after launching a year later than the 360.

Okay dude you keep thinking that.

Originally posted by brockie:if you understood value you would no the Vita is a great price for what you get.

We all place different values on our money. The price might be great to you but to me I will never pay 250+ for a portable gaming device. I will pay that much for a phone....

not in the world mate it is out sold in Europe week after week by the PS3 & in Japan the PS2 out sells the 360. plus how many of the numbers are from all the units MS had to replace. give it 8 months PS3 will probably overtake it after launching a year later than the 360.

Okay dude you keep thinking that.

Originally posted by brockie:if you understood value you would no the Vita is a great price for what you get.

We all place different values on our money. The price might be great to you but to me I will never pay 250+ for a portable gaming device. I will pay that much for a phone....

got mine for £220 with a game & free memory card.
you will not get a phone with a quad core cpu & gpu for anywhere near the price of Vita, look how much a iphone 4s is with lower specs.

Do people really want console level graphics on a portable? The only games I ever thought of as good portables were the nintendo classics, COD, GOD of war, or Resident Evil need the big screen to get the full power of it.

Originally posted by jookycola: A 360 fanboy, telling a PS3 fanboy to take off the fanboy glasses. That's some funny stuff right there.

Thank you Al Gore for creating the internet so that everyone can impose their opinions as indisputable facts.

Ah yes... Emotions & religion will conquer facts & historical lineage every time. And while we're at it, they took "gullible" out of the dictionary too. [Agreeing with your sarcasm]

Buy what you want you guys. Personally, I've just about given up on playing 'keep-up' with the game machines, so I stay with the PC if a game really hits home with my inner gamer any more. No matter what, even if I upgrade my computer, chances are the game will still play much later on rather than taking a chance that a console will survive years down the road.

Getting back to the Vita... After the hurl inducing, 2 times, each & every commercial break I see a Vita commercial blitzkrieg! Just for the mere fact that Sony thinks they can strong arm me into buy the damn thing has me running in the opposite direction of the end cap of the store with tweak freaking madness.

The money they spent on this kind of stupidity blanket bombing advertising could have helped dropped the prices & got more machines out in the customers hands. But I guess happy customers is just too old school advertising/sales for them.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 23 Feb 2012 @ 11:55

Neglecting any debate over whether one system is better than the other or not, a simple dynamic of economics may actually come into play here as well. Having a device with 'similar' (save the arguments, I know the differences) features, but with $100 difference in the price tag... Not to mention the lineage of the GameBoy name to back it up. It's just kind of a hard act to follow.

Not to mention the fact I'm not plotzing down $200+ on a game device for a snot nosed kid to bash around in his/her book bag because they don't have any respect for things these days. Now if 'they' want to take their lawn mowing/baby sitting money & use it for one of these things? I don't want to hear the crying when they tear it up; even due to poor craftsmanship on the manufacturer's part.

FACT: Sony is NOT doing well financially and an overhyped psp isn't gonna change that. Hype-beasts will always want to be the first to get something new but once that novelty wears off the longevity factor becomes non-existant.

Originally posted by B2D327: FACT: Sony is NOT doing well financially and an overhyped psp isn't gonna change that. Hype-beasts will always want to be the first to get something new but once that novelty wears off the longevity factor becomes non-existant.

another analyst lol funny people say that there doing so bad they just bought out Ericsson & are bidding for EMIs catalogue of music & somehow can afford to launch a console. if they were doing so bad these things would just not happen.

@jookycola not a fan boy have a 360 as well just I only use it for exclusives & that is a long wait just Halo 4 this year. everything I said was fact, not crap to make PS3 look better it is the better console to own if you had to choose just my opinion.

LordRuss that is harsh how can a advert make you do something you have a choice.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 23 Feb 2012 @ 23:18

Originally posted by brockie: another analyst lol funny people say that there doing so bad they just bought out Ericsson & are bidding for EMIs catalogue of music & somehow can afford to launch a console. if they were doing so bad these things would just not happen.

LordRuss that is harsh how can a advert make you do something you have a choice.

As far as the buy-outs are concerned... that's called a gamble, for one. Two, the music catalog is a money maker hands down no mater what. People are going to want to use the sangs they bought in some form or fashion. Ergo, now that they have changed hands, the copyright has been re-newed & a new 35years of royalties goes to Sony; if they are the ones holding the title to the songs.

As for the advertisements... You've never heard of impulse purchases? It's what has driven toy sales on Saturday morning cartoons for years. Not to mention it's also what sold records to this day. How else do you think shite recording artists get one hit wonders into believing they're billionaires? Saturation airplay.

They've been doing it since 1917 over the radio, more so in the 50s with rock & roll & the payolla scandals. A "if it's playing this often it's gotta be good" mentality. Lulling the listener/viewer into a condition of thinking that the repetitive nature is something good or worth having.

Some experts have tried to outlaw it as a form of subliminal advertising, but as I mentioned before (and you didn't pick up on), the repetitive nature of this advertisement also has a negative effect as well. Thus my choice is to boycott such a purchase.